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BER?

Comptine

Comptine

Hi guys, I've noticed this in two of my tomatoes. I'm not sure if it's BER or something else, so I was hoping for your input.
 
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JoynersHotPeppers said:
Not 100% sure but I would take that fruit off since others look fine. 
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Would BER effect all fruit at the same time, rather than one at a time?
 
I find this strange because if anything I've been over fertilising these plants, giving them tomato nutes nearly every watering.
 
Noah Yates said:
From what I understand BER can actually also be induced by over feeding/watering during fruit setting.
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Yeah, I'm doing research on it right now, and I think my problem leans towards that, rather than nute deficiency. 
 
One of the sources said that it's actually better to leave the fruit on, and this supposedly helps prevent the rest of them from going bad. Any thoughts on that?
 
I am not sure about leaving the fruit on, my intuition would be to remove it, since the affected spot could become infected with other diseases which could spread.
 
I ended up removing them, it was three fruits between 8 plants. 
 
The problem with watering is that the plants are only in 10 litre pots, so they drink it up fast. I'm afraid of them drying up on me. 
 
     Growing tomatoes in small pots can cause BER. Contrary to popular belief, BER isn't necessarily caused by a nutrient deficiency in soil. It's almost always the result of big swings in soil moisture. Inconsistent moisture hurts the plant's ability to transport Ca to growing fruit which leads to infection. 
 
Is it possible to mix bone meal into the water and feed it to them that way or should bone meal ideally be added to the soil beforehand to be broken down gradually? I haven't found any cal-mag in Sweden, we seem to specialise in all-in-one fertilisers. 

Actually, I'll have to take that back, just remembered a site that has quite a wide variety of things. Instead, I'd be really grateful if you could help me pick out the right thing to buy. Ideally something that I can later use for my chilies. 
 
http://www.professionalgrow.se/en/bloom-natural-946ml
 
http://www.professionalgrow.se/en/canna-mono-ca15-calcium-1l
 
http://www.professionalgrow.se/en/hesi-pk-13-14-0-5l
 
There were more things on the site, but they just made me really confused. 
 
 
I might pick this up whilst I'm at it
http://www.professionalgrow.se/en/biobizz-fish-mix-1-ltr
 
     You can just dump the bone meal on the surface of the soil and soil microbes will "eat" it and transport the nutrients to the plant's roots over the course of a few weeks.
     Having said that, most good all-in-one fertilizers (Miracle-Gro, Tomato Tone) should have plenty of Ca for a tomato plant if you're using them properly. I wouldn't recommend adding calmag since Mg will compete with Ca ions being absorbed by the roots and could make the problem worse.
     It is possible to have plenty of Ca (even an abundance) in the soil and still get BER. Improper soil pH, drought, too high a concentration of competing cations, swings in soil moisture, and too much N can all lead to BER. If you're growing in good soilless mix and using a balanced fertilizer I can almost guarantee that your problems are result of moisture problems given the size of containers you are using.
     How dry do you let your tomatoes' soil get before waterings? 
 
While watering condition do impact BER, I also think that supplements can help.
 
FWIW, I've been adding a dash of calcium acetate to the plants each time I water.  So far, I don't have any BER.  (I don't see any flying pink heffalumps either, so the jury is still out of the ultimate effectiveness...)
 
If you're game to whip up some home-brew Calcium additive, you might try this:
 
White Limestone, used as decorative rock and found in abundance in any trailer park... ;)
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Add white vinegar.  Bubble, bubble....
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Let sit a few days until you get white fuzzies....
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Add the crystals to your water or sprinkle on the ground before watering.
I'm not quite sure how much... start with a few cc per plant.
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
     If you're growing in good soilless mix and using a balanced fertilizer I can almost guarantee that your problems are result of moisture problems given the size of containers you are using.
     How dry do you let your tomatoes' soil get before waterings? 
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I'm growing in soil, in peat specifically. 
 
Generally I used to 'feel' the pot, and it was always really light, they drank crazy amounts. We've had a little bit of a heatwave so they got more water than normal, and the pots are still a little heavy 3 days after watering. I'm leaning toward overdoing the water to be honest.
 
Comptine said:
 
I'm growing in soil, in peat specifically. 
 
Generally I used to 'feel' the pot, and it was always really light, they drank crazy amounts. We've had a little bit of a heatwave so they got more water than normal, and the pots are still a little heavy 3 days after watering. I'm leaning toward overdoing the water to be honest.
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     The pH of plain peat may be to low for nutrient uptake unless properly adjusted. Also, letting it dry out may be causing BER (swings in soil moisture again). 
     If I were you, I'd use a good soilless mix next time and try to avoid letting the soil dry out too much. Unless you're growing a dwarf variety, a big container (>15 gallons) or in ground would probably be the best bet. Until then maybe pH test your peat to see if it needs adjustment and try to keep soil moisture consistent.
 
Like an idiot I accidentally got a 0-10-0 fert, It had really high Calcium content. A temporary lapse of brain function made me think Calcium was what K stood for. I'll just have to water bonemeal onto the plants next time hoping it does the trick, that's all I have at the moment.
 
Comptine said:
Like an idiot I accidentally got a 0-10-0 fert,
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     lol Yeah, that'll do it. Oh, well. Chalk it up to a "learning experience". You should have seen my garden learning experience my first year. I grew a lot of compost...
 
Hybrid Mode 01 said:
 
     lol Yeah, that'll do it. Oh, well. Chalk it up to a "learning experience". You should have seen my garden learning experience my first year. I grew a lot of compost...
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I really want to be the exception thought and do splendidly in my first grow. I grew some herbs 5 years ago, that was a disaster, put me off growing anything until now. 
 
For your pots, a good potting mixture, not potting soil, will be better for the plants. Keep experimenting and you'll find the right stuff for you.

Good for you not giving up.
 
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